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28 Feb 2006 : Column 622W—continued
UKHO
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the licensing and distribution of United Kingdom Hydrographic Office products. [53044]
Mr. Touhig: The licensing and distribution of United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) products are carried out by a variety of means.
Many companies, under licence from the Ministry of Defence, publish material that has come from MOD material. This material will usually have an acknowledgement to the Crown, to the MOD or to the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO). It is protected by Crown copyright and the copyright of the publisher.
The UKHO's licensing policy has been accredited by Office of Public Sector Information's Information Fair Trader Scheme (IFTS). IFTS accreditation provides external validation of an organisation's information trading activity. It reassures users that an accredited
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organisation's processes and policies are compliant and consistent with Government policy on information trading and that they meet the needs of existing or potential customers. The UKHO chief executive has made a personal commitment to make sure that the UKHO trades fairly in information.
The UKHO strictly follows a system of open trading that meets the requirements of all applicable laws and regulations (including competition law and the recent Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations), and of UK Government policy. The aim is to, in principle, meet the needs of anyone who applies for a licence to re-use information for any purpose. Any exceptions are published on the website.
Further information on this can be found at www.ukho.gov.uk in the Products and Services and Copyright Licensing sections.
The distribution of UKHO products is effected through a worldwide network of accredited distributors.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how the price of United Kingdom Hydrographic Office products is (a) determined and (b) regulated. [53045]
Mr. Touhig: UKHO product prices are determined by balancing economic factors, operational costs and efficiencies, underlying inflation and market forces. HM Treasury guidelines are also followed. Aside from the application of HM Treasury guidelines, pricing policy is subject to the same regulatory regime applicable to undertakings in general.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what guidance his Department has given the UK Hydrographic Office regarding the commercial and competitive impact of the purchase of SevenCs on competition in the marine data sector. [53046]
Mr. Touhig: The UKHO is the competent agency within the MOD to assess these issues. Guidance from wider MOD was therefore not sought.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on his Department's policy regarding competition between the UK Hydrographic Office and companies it licenses to distribute its marine data. [53047]
Mr. Touhig: The UKHO's licensing policy has been accredited by the Office of Public Sector Information's Information Fair Trader Scheme (IFTS). IFTS accreditation provides external validation of an organisation's information trading activity. It reassures users that an accredited organisation's processes and policies are compliant and consistent with Government policy on information trading and that they meet the needs of existing or potential customers. The chief executive of the UKHO has made a personal commitment to make sure we trade fairly in information.
Further information can be found on the website www.ukho.gov.uk by following the link to Copyright Licensing.
Mr. Harper:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 1 February 2006, Official Report, column 514W, on SevenCs, what assessment
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was made of the digital navigation product market prior to the acquisition of SevenCs by the UK Hydrographic Office. [53117]
Mr. Touhig: The UKHO continually monitors the digital navigation product market and keeps abreast of its state and developments within it. It was not necessary to undertake any special assessment prior to the acquisition.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 1 February 2006, Official Report, column 514W, on SevenCs, how the UK Hydrographic Office's acquisition of SevenCs will safeguard an open system which does not tie end-users to a particular brand of data. [53251]
Mr. Touhig: The UKHO can, by owning SevenCs, ensure that SevenCs' software systems remain open to non-proprietary data.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 1 February 2006, Official Report, column 514W, on SevenCs, what assessment he has made of the UK Hydrographic Office's responsibilities under the International Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea to safeguard an open system. [53252]
Mr. Touhig: The UK's obligation under the Convention is to make available data that meet the Convention's carriage requirements, so enabling the mariner to comply with the regulations applicable to UK waters and to UK-flagged shipping. This is best achieved where open systems exist.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 1 February 2006, Official Report, column 513W, on SevenCs, what assessment (a) was made of the barriers to an invigorated market in the development of digital navigation products prior to the acquisition of SevenCs by the UKHO and (b) has been made of the effect of the acquisition of SevenCs on the development of digital navigation products; and if he will make a statement. [53278]
Mr. Touhig: Prior to acquisition no barriers to such a market were perceived.
The transfer of ownership of SevenCs has had little or no effect to date on UKHO product development. I cannot comment on development of products by other organizations.
Weapons of Mass Destruction
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to increase the development of technologies involved in (a) locating fissile material and (b) tracking weapons of mass destruction. [54349]
John Reid:
The Ministry of Defence is engaged in a number of research activities which address the detection, identification and tracking of all aspects of weapons of mass destruction development and delivery. Many of these programmes are cross-government and/or international in nature and continue to draw on the full breadth of technologies presently available or under development, combined with the capabilities of world-leading laboratories with whom we routinely collaborate.
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DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Firefighters' Pension Scheme
John McDonnell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the annual cost of the Firefighters' Pensions Scheme was in each of the last five financial years. [49706]
Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 13 February 2006]: Estimates for the annual cost of the Firefighters' Pensions Scheme, the number of firefighters receiving a firefighters pension and the number of serving firefighters in England for each of the last five financial years have been tabled as follows.
(2) The number of serving firefighters does not include retained, non-uniformed or fire control staff, who are not entitled to membership of the Firefighters' Pension Scheme. Figures for 2004–05 are provisional.
Source:
Subjective Analysis Returns (SAR) submitted by local authorities to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Fire and Rescue Service Statistics publications, ODPM Fire and Rescue annual returns.
The SAR is a sample survey and collects information from 121 authorities in England. The data have been grossed up to provide estimates for England as a whole.
Comparisons across years may not be valid due to changes in responsibilities and the method of reporting the information. In particular, the financial data for 2000–01 to 2002–03 are presented on a non-financial reporting standard 17 (FRS 17) basis while the data for 2003–04 and 2004–05 are presented on a FRS 17 basis. Hence, figures for different years may not be directly comparable.
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